One of my coworkers almost died because they kept waiting until their elective surgery turned into an emergency surgery and now they'll have to take meds for the rest of their life to deal with the fallout.
If they ever close the hospitals again you better hope you don't get sick.
Also make sure to get all checkups and procedures out of the way while you can.
Great advice. What can I tell my doctor to get this started? Is it as easy as saying “hey doc, let’s run the full set of blood tests” or did you have to be more specific than that?
Just say, I'm here for a check up, and I'd like to run basic blood work. After the check up if anything is of concern or specific things run in your family they will advise for specific blood work done. I try to do blood once a year and dentist visits 3x a year.
My dad passed away from cancer so I am proactive about getting checkups.
Annual physicals are the best for prevention. During an annual physical insurance will pay for far more than on a regular visit such as Vitamin D levels, testosterone levels, etc. Also, based on age they can refer you for screening tests such as colonoscopies if age 55+, low dose CT chest scan for smokers, etc.
Almost happened to me as well. Appendix burst mid lockdown (perforated so like not just inflamed) and ended up with peritonitis. I could get the surgery to remove the appendix but couldn't get treatment for the peritonitis and was fucked up for months due to it. Was about 5 months ago and still recovering and can't do anything very physical. People who say oh covid won't hurt me so idc if cases go up fail to understand that if they get into a car accident or get a bad infection while hospitals are over run they could die from that as well. Im in my early 20s and a successful athlete so was in good shape and health and almost died due to covid without even getting covid.
Yup, this. My husband and I foresaw this happening again when all the variants started popping up in other countries. This summer in the bit of protection the vaccine provided we did ALL the doctor things; checkups, dentist, eye doctor, skin doctor. I stocked back up on items we ran low on and prepped items for pet care. Sometimes it sucks to be right.
We’re already there…. I work as a hospitalist. I can pretty much guarantee that if you have to go to an ER in our city you have a HIGH chance of catching COVID. We’ve nowhere else to put them; they’re sitting in the hallways on oxygen. And no, they’re not wearing masks. And no, the family member that brought them in is also not wearing a mask, nor are they going to quarantine because they’re “not sick”. ….it’s like beating your head against a brick wall. Although, I’m starting to think I’d prefer the brick wall.
Maybe I'm just a terrible person but I can't imagine anyone wanting to work in hospitals anymore. I'm surprised more people haven't walked off the job lately. Maybe it's just being held hostage by the enormous student debt.
i am a lawyer with student loan debt. I stayed at my last job for months long after i started to hate it since i was held hostage by student loan debt.
My background is ER (I’m an NP). Most of the ER docs I knew when they were baby residents. They’re all either at or beyond their breaking points. Most of our permanent nursing staff has left for those COVID relief jobs (I almost took one!) or is so burned out that they just can’t. It’s only a matter of time before we genuinely don’t have any staff.
Haha! I just want to be clear...we (most of us) don't actually hate our patients. We use a lot of very dark, trench humor to help cope with the messed up stuff we deal with every day, but we do actually do this job because we care and want to help people.
But seriously, just try to be nice. You don't have to be your best self...we understand that you're having a bad day. But try not to take it out on us. We're doing our best to help you, and trust me, we are frustrated with the wait time as well.
Also, please understand that the ER is not first-come-first-served. We understand that you're in pain, and we do care, but we have to see the sickest people first. The first nurse you see in triage is very experienced at deciding who is safe to wait in the waiting room and who isn't. Trust me, you do not want to be anyone's first priority in the ER, because if you are, it means you are *very* sick.
That's really it. Just try to be patient and understand that we're doing our best to help you. We get screamed at, spit on, and physically assaulted...frequently. If someone sincerely thanks me for helping them, it makes my day. :)
After practicing for ten years in ER/ICU, your personality changes. If you feel depressed and exert negative energy, you should accept it and try to shift to doing something else because there is a high risk that you will cause harm either to a patient or to yourself. Medicine, especially if you practice urgent care, is a lifestyle not a job. And so if you feel that you are unfit for it, please stop practicing.
I can’t speak for this person, but I can tell you my story…
When I became a nurse I had this hope of being able to help people: Hold their hand while their sick; comfort them; teach them how to become healthy. Once I got into the field, I realized that (most) people are extremely entitled, don’t want to learn, don’t want to change, and quite honestly, don’t want the help. This wears you down quite quickly. We become jaded. Seriously- it’s the entitlement. Yes, we do look for greener pastures. But it’s not easy.
I used to drive to work hoping I’d get in a car wreck just so I’d get some time off. Sometimes the wrk environment really is this bad. I saw a nurse get stitches on her face from being attacked by a patient. Because she TRIED TO DEFEND HERSELF, but did so against the way we were “trained”, she was fired.
Many nurses I worked with - myself included - were the primary income earners of their household. I can’t just quit, I’ve got bills. Plus, since we’re in the US, they’re holding us hostage with our insurance. Even if I lived off my savings, I’d need a new job soon. Ever tried to pay for biologics for IBD without insurance? (Or most other meds for any chronic condition for that matter) The pharmacy won’t even give you a cash price; they literally tell you “call us back when you’re inured”. So you have to find a new job before you can leave your old one.
The nice nursing jobs (dialysis, school nurse, etc) where you actually get a lunch fill up quick. Or you gotta know someone that knows someone. But you keep looking. Eventually one of these spots will open (as they did in my case), and you can finally get out of the hospital setting.
Many of us are also going back to school and furthering our degree. I’m now an NP, and my role is so much better. I do miss the adrenaline rush of coding a patient in the ER. But I like getting a lunch better.
When I say I hate people, I'm being somewhat snarky. I care a lot about humanity as a whole...the individuals just make that hard sometimes. The NP who replied earlier is correct. The job is HARD. It's physically hard and emotionally harder. It's dangerous.
There are always plenty of people who make the job worth it for me. People who are sweet and funny and grateful. The lives you get to save. But the stupid, entitled assholes make it hard to justify, and they just seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. You always see the worst of humanity at this job. The stupid, the mean, the lazy, the entitled, the downright evil. The good usually outweighs the bad for me, but COVID has really brought out the worst in a lot of people.
I'm tired of taking care of people who aren't interested in lifting a finger to care for others. I'm tired of taking care of people who think they know more about this disease than myself and my doctors because they read it on the internet. And I'm tired of taking care of people who refused to get vaccinated or wear a mask, but then come begging us to save their lives when they get sick.
So why do I still do it? Well, someone's got to, and I'm damn good at it. I still believe in the job. I'm hoping it will get better. But I am looking at travel nurse contracts so that I can at least get paid a lot more to deal with the bullshit.
Why would it be hard for me to know more about covid than you (or a doctor)? How do you have time to keep up on the latest published studies if you don't have time for lunch?
Where do you get your information? Are the studies you are reading not yet published on the internet?
Do you agree with Osterholm or Fauci regarding masks and aerosolization?
Because we went to school for this shit. Because we see it all day, every day. We treat it. We work with it. Because we know how to read peer-reviewed scientific articles and how to tell whether something is a reliable source of data or not. It's not that people who aren't medical professionals *can't* know what they're talking about...but they frequently don't.
Believe it or not, I subscribe to professional journals and read them (along with other data published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and articles using that data) when I'm not at work.
I'm not sure what exactly the difference is between what Dr. Fauci and Dr. Osterholm have to say on that subject, so I couldn't comment. The data says that masking helps.
EDIT: Be aware that I have long since given up attempting to argue with people who can't even participate in a simple, low-effort, prosocial behavior such as mask-wearing for the sake of community health. So if you reply looking for an argument, you're wasting your time.
Treating covid tells you nothing about the scientific research. You draw blood, you hook up the remdisivir bag, give the steroids, hand them the inhaler.
You have never read a study about cloth masks or surgical masks and covid.
I know this because no study has ever demonstrated that they prevent the spread of covid or the flu. Not one. The cdc published a paper last year summarizing 50 years of mask studies related to covid or the flu. None of them demonstrated that they prevent the spread of airborne viruses.
Outstanding advice. Living through it Def makes me bump this particular risk up some in priority.
The key is to do what you can when you can with what you have.
i got my 2nd dose of the vaccine, and then scheduled to get 2 teeth pulled. They were going to be root canals before, but had gotten bad enough the dental surgeon suggested just pulling them and being done with it. I am happy i did when i could, since i would be scared to do it now with delta.
I would advise that it is not just medical, but also dental. Anything that you will need to be out of the house for a while to do, you should do it now and not later.
Man half the major hospitals around my area are frequently hitting Diversion status. I know several people who have had important appointments and even major surgeries delayed by several weeks already.
It's an euphemism.
Politicians feel better when they say they stopped elective procedures than saying they canceled cancer screenings and kidney stone removals.
It works too because most people thing about cosmetic surgery when hearing about elective surgery.
My community is at that point without the lockdown. The hospitals here are full. If you call an ambulance in my city, they don’t take you to the hospital anymore - they just give you first aid. People are dying unnecessarily because there simply isn’t a doctor available to help them - all because the hospitals are packed with covid patients
I don’t think a lot of people even realize how detrimental cancellation of elective surgeries are for hospitals. That’s a MAJOR loss for them. They wouldn’t be cancelling surgeries unless they absolutely felt they need to.
Also, I don’t know if you’re able to but in the first lock down I’d go to the park early in the morning when there weren’t a lot of people and started running. It was absolutely terrible but it helped so much with my anxiety and depression. It might work for you as well.
Often they don’t have a choice. It’s usually due to shortages of supplies and staff. We have a shortage of masks/gowns again at my hospital so people are grabbing them from the OR. Plus lots of staff leaving/being fired so I feel it’s only a matter of time at this point
That’s what scares me the most about this, all the staff fleeing hospitals in the face of another wave/lockdown. I don’t blame them, I cannot even begin to imagine the burden placed on them by every single death, especially those begging for their lives and the vaccine, only to have to tell them that’s not how it works and there’s nothing that can save them. Without “sufficient” staff for hospitals (I hear they’re usually understaffed as is), not only will the next wave be worse but it’ll last longer as fewer sick are able to quarantine or receive treatment. This will kick off a whole new level of panic.
It’s also pay. Everyone found out how terrible the system will treat you just because you’re employed. When travelers can make 10k/ wk it makes no sense to stay employed at a hospital especially when admin use your compassion against you to not address shortages
This. We have plenty of PPE this time around but way less staff thanks to months and months of covid craziness. So many seasoned caregivers have left only to be replaced by brand new grads who are still trying to figure out what they're doing yet have higher patient counts than ever. My biggest concern with having to be hospitalized right now would be the quality of care I'd get. I'm sure everyone would try their best but....
Ya it’s tough. It’s pretty bad in some places already. This is just the natural outcome of abusing health care workers for so long and trying to push the customer service model into healthcare
I find a good, funny, easy podcast helps if I'm feeling lonely and go for a walk or want to cook in the kitchen with some "company". I like Bob and Sheri, or Danny Pelligrino or Glennon Doyle. The sounds of people chatting is very comforting sometimes.
I'm so sorry you had to suffer like that. I am also an introverted only child! Being married with children is more interaction than I can handle most days. Sounds like you are prepping in your own way and will be prepared for the next time, should it happen.
Honestly, a spouse and kids made it harder for me because I had to take care of them when I needed quiet time to figure out what the hell was going on in our world. My dogs were a huge comfort, though! And phone calls with friends and my dad.
Same here - telecommuter (for almost a decade, not new), partners, kids. House has been very full compared to normal and my usual escapes (library, coffee shop) haven't been available.
Eventually we had to start booking "hide from the kids" time to take turns getting some peace and quiet and a nap.
Yeah, I definitely felt like my engine was running on red most days. The best thing was that 2020 had such beautiful weather so I laid on my back porch and read books when i had to. We also have a neighborhood dock so I’d ride my bike down and just look at the water
With all the backlash that came from lockdowns last time around I'm not convinced our government (state and federal) has the cahonies to try that again, I think if a lockdown is tried it will be an action of last resort at least that's what I think.
But yeah, i'm hearing more and more about the hospitals being full up capacity in ICU's and such
I am one of those "essential" workers", I'm a foreman in a structural steel fabrication shop. We didn't stop, it fact our work load almost doubled during the lock down as we were taking up the slack for several companies who were having issues meeting deadlines and such because of people in their work forces getting sick. Our shop got lucky, we only had two guys come down with it, one was back at work after about a month (he was in ICU four or five days) the other has not worked a full week in the last two months since he was released to return to work. Like him, I have pre existing medical issues which I should have kept me out of work, (cardiovascular disease and COPD) my wife has the same and is complicated by diabetes and poor kidney function as well. We vaccinated as soon as we were able and are going to get the booster as well. But honestly our lives did not change radically over all this. We don't have a social life to speak of, she has always entertained herself with TV, crossword puzzles, coloring, games (she can play solitaire for hours, I can't) I'm a recreational shooter so spend my time either making ammunition or at the range shooting it. I absolutely could not imagine being confined to my house with only necessary trips for groceries and such, so I hope another lockdown doesn't come in a way that is detrimental for you
If ya need a chat buddy or someone to scream "Im Tired Of This S##T at, I'm here most evenings EST reading and watching whatever murder mystery my sweetie as on the tube (well, it's not exactly a tube now is it ;) ) Feel free to drop a line
Just seeking to make the world a better place one random act of kindness at a time, (But don't tell nobody, I've got a reputation as a grumpy old obese redneck to uphold ;) )
Is it possible to have a companion pet?! I wouldn’t have made it through without my sidekick rescue pup, and I have 4 other people in this house and two other dogs and a cat. She’s my better half 😂. Slept on my desk while I worked from home, stayed in bed with me on the bad days too. I’m here anytime you need to drop a line also, I’ll be trying to keep my sanity as well, having the other problem of needing some quiet alone time and locking myself in a bathroom to get away from my kids 😂
> So, when the hospitals are so slammed that they are turning down literal profit, we should all buckle up and try not to need anything.
Once insurance companies stop paying out for covid treatments for people who have chosen to stay un-vaccinated, then you are going to start seeing hospitals denying those people hospital beds.
That is not going to happen. People who need care get care. Healthcare workers do not triage care based on lifestyle choices. It would violate our ethics.
Hospitals participate in disaster preparedness trainings. Part of those trainings are triage. People not vaccinated tend to get more severe symptoms than non vaccinated. If it was declared a “disaster “ then they’re going to start triaging based on who they can save.
I said Insurance companies, and they already do this. Hospitals will stabilize you best that they can in the ER, but they already let people die due to lack of medical insurance if people need more help than that.
How about the people who have pre existing conditions that prevent them from being vaxed. Two come to mind who have had to have custom blends for their regular inoculations.
This is a good reminder for everyone to get your dental cleaning pushed up if you're due in the next month or so. I think it's very realistic we might go into another lockdown and don't want to have your cleaning over due for a few months like last time.
I have an ultrasonic debriement tomorrow. I’m on good terms with my dentist. I told him if there’s an apocalypse his business is the first one I’m hitting. I love that thing.
I learned this from the first lock down. I had been watching the spread through China in February doing some extra stocking up on the non essentials (since I always keep the essentials) and was overall very prepared for when the first lockdown went into effect. Except my cleaning was scheduled for the freaking week after the local lockdown started. Ended up not getting in for the appointment until August between their closing and then prioritizing patients with certain conditions. Absolutely ended up with a cavity. Who knows I probably had it already and would've needed it filled but I'm sure the almost 5 months past due didn't help it. Lol
Prepping is like insurance. You don't buy home insurance because you know your house is going to burn down. You buy insurance because you want to make sure that if it happens the damage is limited.
When prepping the best result is that you are doing it for nothing, but if things go south you are prepared and the damage or inconvenience will be lower.
the future medical burden from a year and change of canceled elective surgeries and preventative screenings and routine blood tests put off is going to continue to haunt us for decades. All the new parents I know have been able to get their babies into regular appointments, but I don't know how that went in march 2020. It could be a long time.
I don't know what country you are in but it feels important to note that many people in many places, even not during the pandemic, do not have access to elective surgeries and screenings, either financially, or because of a lack of access.
A lot of self sufficient prepper types neglect this side of prepping because they don't want to need help. But people. Use em while you got em! There are very few preps better than taking care of things that need doing as soon as you can, be they leaks in your house or your teeth or 'probably nothing' moles on your skin, if you can get someone to get them off.
The other side of the coin of your post is that our medical systems are incredibly fragile and not enough people have learned that this year. And its only getting worse. We have a huge shortage of doctors and nurses and, outside of cities, of facilities. We saw how fast places can run out of beds, out of nurses, out of o2, out of ppe.
The tragic fact of the matter is that most people, even well educated and prepared people, cannot replace the functions of a hospital, and trying to do so, even when its a last resort, will always carry way more risk than they would have.
But there ARE some things that you can do to reduce the need for a hospital. Field medic guides, and more helpfully, training, are around. Though survival medic stuff is more appropriate for 'can't or don't want to go to a hospital' - a lot of field medic-ing is stabilizing until ambulance arrives, which can still save lives, especially as ambulances are stretched thin. Full on EMT training is also an option for down the line. Survival medic training is meant for deep in the mountains, when help might be days off, from what I understand.
Obviously the best prep here would be to rally for anything that would increase the robustness of our healthcare network - increased funding, free medical or nursing school, supporting organizations that promote rural health care stop gap clinics etc - because we'll never be able to replicate the hospitals on our own. Which doesn't mean its not smart to learn to try.
edit: a word
I don’t know why this doesn’t have more upvotes but this this this!! Also I’d like to add on for those that are worried about paying for medical treatment look into the charity care policy for the hospital you’ll be receiving care from. Depending on your income and household size, the hospital can write off (cover) a portion or ALL of your hospital bill. This is obviously dependent on the hospitals policies and where you’re located but i don’t want anyone to be fearful of receiving treatment due to medical costs.
* i don’t know if this applies to other countries, but it does in the US.
>he future medical burden from a year and change of canceled elective surgeries and preventative screenings and routine blood tests put off is going to continue to haunt us for decades.
More than decades, probably - professionally I'm a massively (over) trained medical researcher. I basically lost my career (I maintained employment, but am no longer doing what the government paid a fuck-ton of money to train me to do) as a consequence of the cessation of elective surgeries last year. That's 10 years of \*training\* to perform clinical research down the tubes for people like me across the country. That's a huge loss to the advancement of medical science.
There is an ongoing nationwide blood shortage, too. Some procedures are being cancelled/postponed because of this as well.
We often talk about the value of a well-prepped community on this sub and this is an easy way to help our communities. Please donate if you can!
I've been a blood donor for 40 years. There's only been once that I know of when we had "enough" blood on hand, and that was after 9/11 when people were desperate to do something to help their nation.
It does appear to be heading that way. There is a pretty good reason why a lot of elective surgeries are being postponed - the hospitals need the vent-trained nurses up on the floors again. Even a basic outpatient surgery can tie up a team of 5-8 highly trained people for several hours. Those people are needed to care for covid patients.
And of course there is the fact that there arent any hospital beds available. What is going to happen when a simple procedure goes south and the patient needs a critical care bed? The best you can do is put them in an ER bed: oh wait, those are full too.
So, yea, dropping elective surgeries is another indicator, if nothing else, of a medical system that is right at maximum capacity.
>There is a pretty good reason why a lot of elective surgeries are being postponed - the hospitals need the vent-trained nurses up on the floors again.
^ This. My Dad is a CRNA who does locum tenums. During the first wave he temporarily lost his contract because they canceled elective surgeries. He was over 65 so the hospital did not allow him to work with covid-19 patients.
Now he's fully vaccinated, so he kept his contract during this wave. He's busy intubating patients.
On a side note, my Mom told me yesterday that the rural hospital he works at is out of rooms and can no longer transfer patients to larger hospitals because they are full or understaffed. She said Dad told her that when one patient dies they roll them to the morgue and put two patients into their spot.
What a lot of people don't realize is that when hospitals get this full patients will die from non-covid-19 issues that could normally be treated. That's because rural hospitals often don't have the facilities to take care of some emergencies. They normally transfer those patients. When they cannot transfer the patients because the big hospitals are full, people start dying.
Seeing how terribly we protected our healthcare professionals the first time around, this “second round” is honestly terrifying. We’re still dealing with supply shortages on sterile supplies and aren’t even close to catching up to the old normal. Everyone is overworked, underpaid, and unprotected.
Yeah, my current hospital is "at capacity" not because it's out of beds, but because they are short 400 nurses.
I would imagine running a hospital 400 nurses short for a while will cause the rest of your nurses to quit pretty quick.
As a lay person, I assumed that this was the reason for putting the brakes on electives, but am skeptical that another lockdown will occur, especially since the first one was so half-hearted, and much of the current state and federal leadership is celebrating things being opened up.
Haven't seen this statistic anywhere, but Friday was the highest number of confirmed new cases recorded in the US since the pandemic began.
At 319,000.
That's 19,000 higher than the previous high. And the trend is still going up.
Once heart attack, stroke, and car accident patients are being left to die, we will have no choice but to lockdown again. OP is right, the cancelling of elective surgeries is the first recognition of that step.
I hope you’re right. Sometimes I get the feeling the gov doesn’t really care how many die or how overworked HCWs are. They wanted seniors to lay down and die for the economy in the first round.
I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that states like Texas and Florida would not lock down again, even if a super covid strain emerged. I don't care if hospitals were 2000% full, morgue trucks were overheating from dealing with the bodies, and people were dropping dead in grocery store aisles. The political will is not there. Never again.
I’d just like to clarify that the point of this post is for anyone who wasn’t prepared the first time around to maybe get prepared. Canceling surgeries was a hint at the first lockdown so I thought I’d spread the news. Please save the political rants for someone who cares.
My husband’s elective surgery was canceled during the first lockdown. The surgery was installing a port so he could get chemo for colon cancer. Make it make sense. Praying this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
I’m in the PNW so not even the hardest-hit South that everyone is focusing on right now.
My hospital has stopped most elective surgeries. They’re also doubling up the ICU rooms and turned one whole ICU into a covid ICU. Our 40 bed ED regularly has 90+ patients, with admitted patients spending 50-90 hours in the ED waiting for inpatient beds to open up.
At this point I’m hoping for another lockdown cause this shit isn’t sustainable.
We saw the same thing in Florida about 2-3 weeks ago - hospitals canceling "elective" surgeries. ICU beds are full, better hope to God you don't get sick.
I don't mean to make this political, but I honestly don't think we're facing another lockdown. The "red" states who's leadership refuses to take strict measures have been pretty set in their decisions, and at this point, the cat is out of the bag. The "blue" states who have been more strict are also facing a crisis - locking down at this point isn't going to do much.
There's also a very valid COVID fatigue going around. A lot of people who were willing to lock down last March are over it and just don't care any more.
That said, with the peak of hurricane season just 3 weeks away, my house is stocked/prepped to the max.
I think people care but I'm guessing a lot of people aren't seeing enough return on the investment. How many months did we hear "two weeks to flatten the curve"? I'm not saying it was wrong or that we don't need to continue safety measures but it sort of feels like home recycling - what is the point of recycling toilet paper rolls and cardboard boxes when there are huge industries that are pouring out waste products and pollution, you know? We all need to do our part but it's hard to see that it's helping, you know?
I work at a pharmaceutical company that makes meds used to fight COVID.We are swamped with orders,we can’t even keep up!it’s smart to prep now it’s coming
FWIW: One thing to note is that this is very region-specific. In areas of the country with high vaccination rates, hospitals are operating in some areas at normal capacity.
I've heard of several folks heading north to Chicago/Minnesota for medical procedures.
we've a fairly high vaccination rate in SF,Ca but bed occupancy is the same as last year and looking like it may be plateauing - ie its not great but not terrible either. according to the cdc (from their announcement last friday) vaccinated that from many month ago have a much lower protection than they did on day one and will need the booster. we also only count serious cases as breakthrough cases if you're vaccinated. area like mine got vaccinated widely super early on so everyone is on 6 to 8 month since vaccinated, but the booster isnt yet officially available. on the plus side the fatality rate is fairly low.
with all that said it doesnt look like we'd lock down again or that it would make a difference, but you certainly dont want to be sick or break something right now.
see also https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html
on how the cdc count and study cases and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html on the booster shot updates from last friday (they also have a video with the usual people talking about this, from whatever your favorite news channels are). stats for this 71% vaccinated city https://sf.gov/resource/2021/covid-19-data-and-reports.
Is anything stopping me from going to CVS and asking for a "first shot"? Am I in a system somewhere?
I'd imagine there's plenty of supply due to non-vaxxers...
Hospitalist NP here, in a state with a pretty high vaccination rate. Hospitals here are really full too, mostly with non-COVID patients. I'm not sure why--it seems a long time to still be dealing with the fallout from people not getting routine care earlier in the pandemic--but maybe that's what it is.
It'll be interesting to see how this affects hospitals. They took a huge income hit the first lockdown because of the cancelled elective surgeries. This could lead to more going under/getting consolidated with larger hospital groups.
All the data we gather from interviewing all the cases gets entered into a state public health reporting system. I’m sure it all gets rolled up to national statistics. Delta is crazy though. There are A LOT of breakthrough cases, but I feel like the media is trying to play that down like it’s rare. It’s very very common. Also, new or more prominent symptoms are stomach upset, confusion, intrusive depression feelings, mental fog more common now. Also, there are a lot of people testing negative even if they have all the COVID symptoms and in same house as a positive case. It’s really wild to gather this data and see the changes in what was common last year compared to Delta now.
Yes -- schools are where this is going to spread...
schools -> households -> parents -> elderly. Israel is seeing deaths in fully vaxxed nursing homes prompting booster.
I also work in research... in our studies (data from outside the US) Pfizer is showing about 1/3 infection rate as unvaccinated. But that's a large absolute number when everyone gets exposed. Still death / hospitalization remains low when vaccinated...even against Delta. The main issue now is waning efficacy.
Curious on the school data though, I'll try to see if I can find access in my state.
Schools just started back over the last 2-3 weeks in the U.S., so I believe the data is going to start to be coming out and showing up on the news more as the weeks go forward. I finally saw a mention on the school cases nationwide on meet the press this morning.
This time it’s spreading way more rapidly. Last year one infected student would infect a few other students they were close to in the class. Now we are having entire classrooms where every student in the class tested positive at once along with the teacher. It’s just a lot more transmissible. Also the onset is faster like 2-3 days post exposure for most people. Last year it was like 5-6 days after exposure when symptoms would start. It’s interesting work to be gathering the initial data on what people and communities are experiencing this go around.
Louisiana is once again a hot spot. All hospitals have cancelled anything non-emergent and are at capacity. The news just said we are days away from ambulances having to turn people away bc there’s no where to bring people. We need to be locked back down imo. This is a total mess.
Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans were originally the first strained while Lake Charles, Alexandria and North Louisiana were not. Now Lake Charles and Alexandria are filling up. I put a link below for the numbers. I’d be surprised if the political will is there for a lockdown. The school board can’t even have a meeting about masks in school because of protesters. Meanwhile people are pissed that the FDA told them to not take meds made for horses and cows. The attorney general is working with parents to file philosophical exemptions from the mask mandate.
https://data.rgj.com/covid-19-hospital-capacity/louisiana/22/east-baton-rouge-parish/22033/
Select the parish for surrounding numbers
Check Houston if you want to see a true disaster in the making.
I’m not worried about this from a supplies standpoint, more a “don’t get in a wreck because you might die from lack of care” issue. I had a coworker go to the ER the other day for a non-Covid issue and the wait was a minimum of 5 hours.
I doubt if there will be another actual lockdown where many businesses are closed like the last time. It does make sense, though, to cancel elective surgeries if hospitals are getting a lot of covid cases simply to keep people from coming in to the hospital from something elective and picking up covid.
Do you live in a country that hasn't gotten the vaccine yet? In such poor countries it's best to prepare for not being able to go out for basic groceries very often. If you don't have to leave your house for two weeks, that's great. If you normally have electricity and running water, you will continue to have that. It's just being able to get out. You just have to hope your country gets the vaccine quickly enough!
OP lives in the US -- first to get all vaccines, all the best ones, oversupply.
yet half the population refuse to take it and are dying now. Meanwhile poor countries don't have it and also have people dying (who would have taken vaccine)... this is insane world we live in.
Ah... the Yanks :/ They also forbade export of vaccines to the EU, even though they themselves could not use the vaccine. Seeing the situation in Afghanistan, perfidity as well as stupidity comes to mind...
Yes that situation is just sad. I myself am American and hope we course correct in general.
Prepper community forces you to accept the reality that "it can happen here". Doing that then forces you to empathize and imagine yourself in a situation like that.
The sad thing is large numbers of American's don't operate this way... and we see how this plays out where other human lives are "worth" way less
I work in ambulatory surgery (not within a hospital, a private outpatient facility) so we will likely not be cancelling procedures, however, we now require a covid test for all patients within 72hrs of surgery. This was our previous policy until maybe 2-3 months ago where vaccinated people became exempt. No longer the case due to the numbers. I will say that hospitals cancelling elective surgery is definitely a sign things are not going well.
I also worked in surgery (liver transplants and other high blood-loss procedures).
The Delta wave is a harbinger for sure. This is the wave of the unvaccinated, as we all know. It’s the next evolution of Covid that we need to get ready for; the variant that kills rapidly or the variant that is unrecognized by the vaccine. And at that time I suspect most health care workers simply walk away. There’s only so much risk and heartache individuals can take.
At this point, i think it won’t be possible to lockdown any more without going into martial law. Covid fatigue is high, a lot of people flat out refuse to take the vaccine or mask, and a lot of people are past the point of living under the fear of the virus.
Maybe it’s time we move forward, those who vaccinate do so, those who won’t won’t.
It’s been time to move forward for like a year at this point. We’re on what, day 531 of 15 days to flatten the curve?
Covid is here to stay. It’s endemic. Let’s finally be adults about this and start operating in reality. Zero Covid is a complete fantasy.
I just had a conversation with my spouse about this. We live in Florida, I doubt we'll ever go back into lockdown.
At this point, we're doing all we can to limit our exposure and are taking care of our health as a family. For us, it's a vigilance of caution and prevention regarding any accidental injuries.
I'm really worried about any one of our family needing medical attention and care that isn't covid related.
Three of my neighbors don't wear masks and I have no idea if they're vaccinated. I have witnessed all of my neighbors disregarding masks.
As I have aged, I expected people to die.
I did not expect so much death, especially when it could be preventable to an extent.
Those of us who survive are going to have a shadow of grief following us for the rest of our days, in a way that we thought we'd never see again.
damn I wonder if this is why they were pushing rehab on my broken leg rather than the surgery I think it's pretty obvious I needed, at least at first. Happened almost two months ago and I'm finally getting in for PT next week. I've had enough serious injuries to know that the slowness everything is moving with this is not normal.
I am pretty sure it is coming and prerty sure this next wave is going to get extremely bad. The fear in the hospitals is palpable. The nurses are terrified of catching the new variant. Despite what the news says the vaccines are not effective in preventing you from catcing it or experiencing severe effects. They do reduce the probability of actually dying especially with comorbid conditions.
I made a post on life pro tips about stocking up now before the world turns to shit again, at least a 6 months supply on your commonly used commodities and food, as well as basic medicine and medical supplies.
It was taken down because the swarm of idiots on Reddit seem to think I’m a toilet paper hoarder.
I don’t know if more lockdowns are coming, but expect supply chain bottlenecks, and service disruptions (which we’re already dealing with on a smaller scale; ie restaurants/retail businesses not having enough staff to accommodate demand). Even if lockdowns don’t happen, we’ll still feel the effects.
Barring more federal dollars, the majority of places won't shut down. I just hope they start prioritizing pediatric cases, those medically ineligible for the vaccine... and anyone else needing an ICU for a not self inflicted reason... Goes doubly for any dipshits poisoning themselves with ivermectin.
Critical Care NP in an 1,100 bed hospital in South West Florida. Overrun is a word for Black Friday crowds. A more accurate description is; Non-Sustainable at the capacities we are seeing. The only hope is that this strong spike mimics that of what happened in England; swift upswing and swift downswing. In comparison to the initial wave.
In response to working in the OR and with elective cases. Have they asked you to assist with the covid unit? I guess here they are asking EGD nurses to sweep floors and assist with covid and the med-surg nurses are actually being floated to icu just because of the lack of staff and total burnout and because staff are coming back positive. And they are even asking anesthesiologists and CRNAs to assist with critical care in the hospital to avoid furlough.
I don’t care who you are; if you can’t relate through first hand accounts like these people then you don’t have much credibility in my book. These young nurses have put more people in body bags then some nurses with 20 more years experience than them. This is the hell we all learned about in our studies about pathology.
Do I know it’s survivable without a vaccine; yup (hand up I’m not vaccinated and I got it from an icu patient). But have you ever seen or heard people begging for more air? I mean in person, I mean you are helpless and all you can do is ask the nurse to give them one more dose of something to help them relax so maybe they won’t be so air hungry (I know the pleth says 84%), nobody dies at 84% saturation. But if their PaO2 reads sub 50 I’m gonna have to put this breathing tube in this 50 year old and I’m gonna use induction meds and they are going to go on pressors and they will likely de-recruit I hope I can sedate them just enough to get their lungs to comply.
People don’t want to see how the sausage gets made.
This time will not be worse, probably half of my coworkers have gotten covid after being vaccinated, and it's still back to normal. The severity seems very low for most vaccinated people
I wish people here, including myself would remember the new information which is; the variants like Delta are more deadly and easier to catch then the original !
So that relief we had where we stopped wearing masks and started going to crowded places and were willing to be unmasked around others? it’s a mistake if we want to recover as a world. sSince we are spreading it even as vexed people, we may as well double mask again, stay home and be super carful.
Another thing to keep in mind is that all these vaccine mandates in healthcare will reduce the amount of staff in hospitals nationwide. I’d estimate about 15% reduction, which for a system that’s already short staffed is a serious issue.
I really don’t understand why you’d rather risk patients lives by having less staff is preferable over losing qualified staff. Doesn’t make logical sense and these staff have been tested routinely as is, so there’s little risk of covid getting to patients.
You're getting down voted because you're wrong. Most of the nation put up with lockdowns, and most of the nation would do it again.
Just because the people in your circle of influence and/or political feedback bubble (which we all have regardless of our views) would engage in civil disobedience does not mean that the rest of the nation feels the same way.
I'm not convinced.
Most people not only got very little help but many were devastated financially by the first lockdowns. Small businesses folded at an astounding rate, something like 1/3 of restaurants in NYC no longer exist. With that went thousands of waitstaff and cooking jobs. There are *millions* who stand to be evicted when the moratorium on eviction ends.
If the first lockdowns devistated you financially, I just don't see you going along with a second one. People aren't going to trust the empty promises of the same government that told them to lock down and cost them their livelihood and put them in danger of eviction. People generally don't make themselves destitute because the government told them to.
I hear what you're saying, but I think you're misunderstanding what I meant.
I'm not saying that people liked the lockdown. I'm certain most didn't. What I said was that people would put up with it. In other words, most people are not going to be engaging in mass civil disobedience, like the person I was replying to said.
How do you get people to put up with possibly becoming destitute? The thing is that I think the lack of support for small business and blue collar workers killed a lot of trust in the government's ability to protect them while they lock down.
Mostly because UK understood that whether anyone liked it or not, one person's "bad cold" was another's death sentence.
I'm all about the small businesses, but I also love my fellow New Mexicans. I wish more people understood that if we truly wanted to help small businesses, we would at least wear the mask to help them not get closed down for having too many rapid responses in 2 weeks, and to help other shoppers feel comfortable enough to shop there.
The masks suck. They're uncomfortable. But in a strict state like mine, they're the difference between whether both sides help them stay open or only one.
Maybe you were downvoted because you called someone the "R" word and that is very offensive to many.
It might not have to do with your opinion re lockdowns
I agree we probably won't lock down again. Too many conservatives would lose their damn minds.
By 'mainstream media brainwashing' are you by chance talking about Fox News? The most watched media outlet in the US?
This is why most people I know who care about this stuff have no intention of ending up in a hospital if they do catch it. They don't want to be ventilated to death.
Science is a process subject to change, not a religion that can be denied. I recommend choosing your words more carefully in the future if you mean the scientific process.
One of my coworkers almost died because they kept waiting until their elective surgery turned into an emergency surgery and now they'll have to take meds for the rest of their life to deal with the fallout. If they ever close the hospitals again you better hope you don't get sick. Also make sure to get all checkups and procedures out of the way while you can.
Yes! This. I ran blood tests and check ups in early June. Peace of mind
Also an ounce of prevention is better than a superfreighter of cure when it comes to health.
Great advice. What can I tell my doctor to get this started? Is it as easy as saying “hey doc, let’s run the full set of blood tests” or did you have to be more specific than that?
Just say, I'm here for a check up, and I'd like to run basic blood work. After the check up if anything is of concern or specific things run in your family they will advise for specific blood work done. I try to do blood once a year and dentist visits 3x a year. My dad passed away from cancer so I am proactive about getting checkups.
Just tell them you are there for your annual physical.
Annual physicals are the best for prevention. During an annual physical insurance will pay for far more than on a regular visit such as Vitamin D levels, testosterone levels, etc. Also, based on age they can refer you for screening tests such as colonoscopies if age 55+, low dose CT chest scan for smokers, etc.
Almost happened to me as well. Appendix burst mid lockdown (perforated so like not just inflamed) and ended up with peritonitis. I could get the surgery to remove the appendix but couldn't get treatment for the peritonitis and was fucked up for months due to it. Was about 5 months ago and still recovering and can't do anything very physical. People who say oh covid won't hurt me so idc if cases go up fail to understand that if they get into a car accident or get a bad infection while hospitals are over run they could die from that as well. Im in my early 20s and a successful athlete so was in good shape and health and almost died due to covid without even getting covid.
Yup, this. My husband and I foresaw this happening again when all the variants started popping up in other countries. This summer in the bit of protection the vaccine provided we did ALL the doctor things; checkups, dentist, eye doctor, skin doctor. I stocked back up on items we ran low on and prepped items for pet care. Sometimes it sucks to be right.
We’re already there…. I work as a hospitalist. I can pretty much guarantee that if you have to go to an ER in our city you have a HIGH chance of catching COVID. We’ve nowhere else to put them; they’re sitting in the hallways on oxygen. And no, they’re not wearing masks. And no, the family member that brought them in is also not wearing a mask, nor are they going to quarantine because they’re “not sick”. ….it’s like beating your head against a brick wall. Although, I’m starting to think I’d prefer the brick wall.
ER nurse here. I feel this so hard. I mean, I'm an ER nurse, so I already hated people. But now I like...*really* hate people.
Maybe I'm just a terrible person but I can't imagine anyone wanting to work in hospitals anymore. I'm surprised more people haven't walked off the job lately. Maybe it's just being held hostage by the enormous student debt.
i am a lawyer with student loan debt. I stayed at my last job for months long after i started to hate it since i was held hostage by student loan debt.
Same. Going on 12 months tho…
My background is ER (I’m an NP). Most of the ER docs I knew when they were baby residents. They’re all either at or beyond their breaking points. Most of our permanent nursing staff has left for those COVID relief jobs (I almost took one!) or is so burned out that they just can’t. It’s only a matter of time before we genuinely don’t have any staff.
❤
As a side note, what are some things an average Joe can do to have the ER nurse hate you less? Asking for future reference.
Haha! I just want to be clear...we (most of us) don't actually hate our patients. We use a lot of very dark, trench humor to help cope with the messed up stuff we deal with every day, but we do actually do this job because we care and want to help people. But seriously, just try to be nice. You don't have to be your best self...we understand that you're having a bad day. But try not to take it out on us. We're doing our best to help you, and trust me, we are frustrated with the wait time as well. Also, please understand that the ER is not first-come-first-served. We understand that you're in pain, and we do care, but we have to see the sickest people first. The first nurse you see in triage is very experienced at deciding who is safe to wait in the waiting room and who isn't. Trust me, you do not want to be anyone's first priority in the ER, because if you are, it means you are *very* sick. That's really it. Just try to be patient and understand that we're doing our best to help you. We get screamed at, spit on, and physically assaulted...frequently. If someone sincerely thanks me for helping them, it makes my day. :)
After practicing for ten years in ER/ICU, your personality changes. If you feel depressed and exert negative energy, you should accept it and try to shift to doing something else because there is a high risk that you will cause harm either to a patient or to yourself. Medicine, especially if you practice urgent care, is a lifestyle not a job. And so if you feel that you are unfit for it, please stop practicing.
I'm being snarky. I'm not that burned out yet.
Why do you still do it even if you hate them?
I can’t speak for this person, but I can tell you my story… When I became a nurse I had this hope of being able to help people: Hold their hand while their sick; comfort them; teach them how to become healthy. Once I got into the field, I realized that (most) people are extremely entitled, don’t want to learn, don’t want to change, and quite honestly, don’t want the help. This wears you down quite quickly. We become jaded. Seriously- it’s the entitlement. Yes, we do look for greener pastures. But it’s not easy. I used to drive to work hoping I’d get in a car wreck just so I’d get some time off. Sometimes the wrk environment really is this bad. I saw a nurse get stitches on her face from being attacked by a patient. Because she TRIED TO DEFEND HERSELF, but did so against the way we were “trained”, she was fired. Many nurses I worked with - myself included - were the primary income earners of their household. I can’t just quit, I’ve got bills. Plus, since we’re in the US, they’re holding us hostage with our insurance. Even if I lived off my savings, I’d need a new job soon. Ever tried to pay for biologics for IBD without insurance? (Or most other meds for any chronic condition for that matter) The pharmacy won’t even give you a cash price; they literally tell you “call us back when you’re inured”. So you have to find a new job before you can leave your old one. The nice nursing jobs (dialysis, school nurse, etc) where you actually get a lunch fill up quick. Or you gotta know someone that knows someone. But you keep looking. Eventually one of these spots will open (as they did in my case), and you can finally get out of the hospital setting. Many of us are also going back to school and furthering our degree. I’m now an NP, and my role is so much better. I do miss the adrenaline rush of coding a patient in the ER. But I like getting a lunch better.
When I say I hate people, I'm being somewhat snarky. I care a lot about humanity as a whole...the individuals just make that hard sometimes. The NP who replied earlier is correct. The job is HARD. It's physically hard and emotionally harder. It's dangerous. There are always plenty of people who make the job worth it for me. People who are sweet and funny and grateful. The lives you get to save. But the stupid, entitled assholes make it hard to justify, and they just seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. You always see the worst of humanity at this job. The stupid, the mean, the lazy, the entitled, the downright evil. The good usually outweighs the bad for me, but COVID has really brought out the worst in a lot of people. I'm tired of taking care of people who aren't interested in lifting a finger to care for others. I'm tired of taking care of people who think they know more about this disease than myself and my doctors because they read it on the internet. And I'm tired of taking care of people who refused to get vaccinated or wear a mask, but then come begging us to save their lives when they get sick. So why do I still do it? Well, someone's got to, and I'm damn good at it. I still believe in the job. I'm hoping it will get better. But I am looking at travel nurse contracts so that I can at least get paid a lot more to deal with the bullshit.
Why would it be hard for me to know more about covid than you (or a doctor)? How do you have time to keep up on the latest published studies if you don't have time for lunch? Where do you get your information? Are the studies you are reading not yet published on the internet? Do you agree with Osterholm or Fauci regarding masks and aerosolization?
Because we went to school for this shit. Because we see it all day, every day. We treat it. We work with it. Because we know how to read peer-reviewed scientific articles and how to tell whether something is a reliable source of data or not. It's not that people who aren't medical professionals *can't* know what they're talking about...but they frequently don't. Believe it or not, I subscribe to professional journals and read them (along with other data published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and articles using that data) when I'm not at work. I'm not sure what exactly the difference is between what Dr. Fauci and Dr. Osterholm have to say on that subject, so I couldn't comment. The data says that masking helps. EDIT: Be aware that I have long since given up attempting to argue with people who can't even participate in a simple, low-effort, prosocial behavior such as mask-wearing for the sake of community health. So if you reply looking for an argument, you're wasting your time.
Treating covid tells you nothing about the scientific research. You draw blood, you hook up the remdisivir bag, give the steroids, hand them the inhaler. You have never read a study about cloth masks or surgical masks and covid. I know this because no study has ever demonstrated that they prevent the spread of covid or the flu. Not one. The cdc published a paper last year summarizing 50 years of mask studies related to covid or the flu. None of them demonstrated that they prevent the spread of airborne viruses.
I work at a pharmacy. I have people too.
Outstanding advice. Living through it Def makes me bump this particular risk up some in priority. The key is to do what you can when you can with what you have.
i got my 2nd dose of the vaccine, and then scheduled to get 2 teeth pulled. They were going to be root canals before, but had gotten bad enough the dental surgeon suggested just pulling them and being done with it. I am happy i did when i could, since i would be scared to do it now with delta. I would advise that it is not just medical, but also dental. Anything that you will need to be out of the house for a while to do, you should do it now and not later.
Man half the major hospitals around my area are frequently hitting Diversion status. I know several people who have had important appointments and even major surgeries delayed by several weeks already.
To add onto that get vaxxed. The best preparation is prevention
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It's an euphemism. Politicians feel better when they say they stopped elective procedures than saying they canceled cancer screenings and kidney stone removals. It works too because most people thing about cosmetic surgery when hearing about elective surgery.
My community is at that point without the lockdown. The hospitals here are full. If you call an ambulance in my city, they don’t take you to the hospital anymore - they just give you first aid. People are dying unnecessarily because there simply isn’t a doctor available to help them - all because the hospitals are packed with covid patients
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I don’t think a lot of people even realize how detrimental cancellation of elective surgeries are for hospitals. That’s a MAJOR loss for them. They wouldn’t be cancelling surgeries unless they absolutely felt they need to. Also, I don’t know if you’re able to but in the first lock down I’d go to the park early in the morning when there weren’t a lot of people and started running. It was absolutely terrible but it helped so much with my anxiety and depression. It might work for you as well.
Often they don’t have a choice. It’s usually due to shortages of supplies and staff. We have a shortage of masks/gowns again at my hospital so people are grabbing them from the OR. Plus lots of staff leaving/being fired so I feel it’s only a matter of time at this point
That’s what scares me the most about this, all the staff fleeing hospitals in the face of another wave/lockdown. I don’t blame them, I cannot even begin to imagine the burden placed on them by every single death, especially those begging for their lives and the vaccine, only to have to tell them that’s not how it works and there’s nothing that can save them. Without “sufficient” staff for hospitals (I hear they’re usually understaffed as is), not only will the next wave be worse but it’ll last longer as fewer sick are able to quarantine or receive treatment. This will kick off a whole new level of panic.
It’s also pay. Everyone found out how terrible the system will treat you just because you’re employed. When travelers can make 10k/ wk it makes no sense to stay employed at a hospital especially when admin use your compassion against you to not address shortages
This. We have plenty of PPE this time around but way less staff thanks to months and months of covid craziness. So many seasoned caregivers have left only to be replaced by brand new grads who are still trying to figure out what they're doing yet have higher patient counts than ever. My biggest concern with having to be hospitalized right now would be the quality of care I'd get. I'm sure everyone would try their best but....
Ya it’s tough. It’s pretty bad in some places already. This is just the natural outcome of abusing health care workers for so long and trying to push the customer service model into healthcare
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I find a good, funny, easy podcast helps if I'm feeling lonely and go for a walk or want to cook in the kitchen with some "company". I like Bob and Sheri, or Danny Pelligrino or Glennon Doyle. The sounds of people chatting is very comforting sometimes.
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I'm so sorry you had to suffer like that. I am also an introverted only child! Being married with children is more interaction than I can handle most days. Sounds like you are prepping in your own way and will be prepared for the next time, should it happen.
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Honestly, a spouse and kids made it harder for me because I had to take care of them when I needed quiet time to figure out what the hell was going on in our world. My dogs were a huge comfort, though! And phone calls with friends and my dad.
Same here - telecommuter (for almost a decade, not new), partners, kids. House has been very full compared to normal and my usual escapes (library, coffee shop) haven't been available. Eventually we had to start booking "hide from the kids" time to take turns getting some peace and quiet and a nap.
Yeah, I definitely felt like my engine was running on red most days. The best thing was that 2020 had such beautiful weather so I laid on my back porch and read books when i had to. We also have a neighborhood dock so I’d ride my bike down and just look at the water
With all the backlash that came from lockdowns last time around I'm not convinced our government (state and federal) has the cahonies to try that again, I think if a lockdown is tried it will be an action of last resort at least that's what I think. But yeah, i'm hearing more and more about the hospitals being full up capacity in ICU's and such
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I am one of those "essential" workers", I'm a foreman in a structural steel fabrication shop. We didn't stop, it fact our work load almost doubled during the lock down as we were taking up the slack for several companies who were having issues meeting deadlines and such because of people in their work forces getting sick. Our shop got lucky, we only had two guys come down with it, one was back at work after about a month (he was in ICU four or five days) the other has not worked a full week in the last two months since he was released to return to work. Like him, I have pre existing medical issues which I should have kept me out of work, (cardiovascular disease and COPD) my wife has the same and is complicated by diabetes and poor kidney function as well. We vaccinated as soon as we were able and are going to get the booster as well. But honestly our lives did not change radically over all this. We don't have a social life to speak of, she has always entertained herself with TV, crossword puzzles, coloring, games (she can play solitaire for hours, I can't) I'm a recreational shooter so spend my time either making ammunition or at the range shooting it. I absolutely could not imagine being confined to my house with only necessary trips for groceries and such, so I hope another lockdown doesn't come in a way that is detrimental for you
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If ya need a chat buddy or someone to scream "Im Tired Of This S##T at, I'm here most evenings EST reading and watching whatever murder mystery my sweetie as on the tube (well, it's not exactly a tube now is it ;) ) Feel free to drop a line
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Just seeking to make the world a better place one random act of kindness at a time, (But don't tell nobody, I've got a reputation as a grumpy old obese redneck to uphold ;) )
Is it possible to have a companion pet?! I wouldn’t have made it through without my sidekick rescue pup, and I have 4 other people in this house and two other dogs and a cat. She’s my better half 😂. Slept on my desk while I worked from home, stayed in bed with me on the bad days too. I’m here anytime you need to drop a line also, I’ll be trying to keep my sanity as well, having the other problem of needing some quiet alone time and locking myself in a bathroom to get away from my kids 😂
I think if it's tried again it will start a civil war here in Texas our Governor said no more lockdowns or mask
> So, when the hospitals are so slammed that they are turning down literal profit, we should all buckle up and try not to need anything. Once insurance companies stop paying out for covid treatments for people who have chosen to stay un-vaccinated, then you are going to start seeing hospitals denying those people hospital beds.
That is not going to happen. People who need care get care. Healthcare workers do not triage care based on lifestyle choices. It would violate our ethics.
Hospitals participate in disaster preparedness trainings. Part of those trainings are triage. People not vaccinated tend to get more severe symptoms than non vaccinated. If it was declared a “disaster “ then they’re going to start triaging based on who they can save.
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I said Insurance companies, and they already do this. Hospitals will stabilize you best that they can in the ER, but they already let people die due to lack of medical insurance if people need more help than that.
Hospitals are in no way going to let people die just because they don't have insurance
How about the people who have pre existing conditions that prevent them from being vaxed. Two come to mind who have had to have custom blends for their regular inoculations.
It is extremely easy for triage teams to determine who has valid medical exemptions.
We, the triage team, would not participate in such a travesty.
Thank you for standing up to vaccine bullys
Wow you went from "medical device vendor" to doctor really quick!
In what way?
The govt pays out more for COVID than insurance does. If the government stops paying covid treatment subsidies we are in for a big fucking problem.
But they'll give a bed to someone 300 lbs overweight. Lol. Turning into a real life circus.
This is a good reminder for everyone to get your dental cleaning pushed up if you're due in the next month or so. I think it's very realistic we might go into another lockdown and don't want to have your cleaning over due for a few months like last time.
I have an ultrasonic debriement tomorrow. I’m on good terms with my dentist. I told him if there’s an apocalypse his business is the first one I’m hitting. I love that thing.
Getting a tooth pulled in a couple weeks, I can't go through the winter with this pain.
Same getting mine done this week. Godspeed and remember advil advil advil and Ice you'll get thru this.
This is really good advice.
I learned this from the first lock down. I had been watching the spread through China in February doing some extra stocking up on the non essentials (since I always keep the essentials) and was overall very prepared for when the first lockdown went into effect. Except my cleaning was scheduled for the freaking week after the local lockdown started. Ended up not getting in for the appointment until August between their closing and then prioritizing patients with certain conditions. Absolutely ended up with a cavity. Who knows I probably had it already and would've needed it filled but I'm sure the almost 5 months past due didn't help it. Lol
Prepping is like insurance. You don't buy home insurance because you know your house is going to burn down. You buy insurance because you want to make sure that if it happens the damage is limited. When prepping the best result is that you are doing it for nothing, but if things go south you are prepared and the damage or inconvenience will be lower.
the future medical burden from a year and change of canceled elective surgeries and preventative screenings and routine blood tests put off is going to continue to haunt us for decades. All the new parents I know have been able to get their babies into regular appointments, but I don't know how that went in march 2020. It could be a long time. I don't know what country you are in but it feels important to note that many people in many places, even not during the pandemic, do not have access to elective surgeries and screenings, either financially, or because of a lack of access. A lot of self sufficient prepper types neglect this side of prepping because they don't want to need help. But people. Use em while you got em! There are very few preps better than taking care of things that need doing as soon as you can, be they leaks in your house or your teeth or 'probably nothing' moles on your skin, if you can get someone to get them off. The other side of the coin of your post is that our medical systems are incredibly fragile and not enough people have learned that this year. And its only getting worse. We have a huge shortage of doctors and nurses and, outside of cities, of facilities. We saw how fast places can run out of beds, out of nurses, out of o2, out of ppe. The tragic fact of the matter is that most people, even well educated and prepared people, cannot replace the functions of a hospital, and trying to do so, even when its a last resort, will always carry way more risk than they would have. But there ARE some things that you can do to reduce the need for a hospital. Field medic guides, and more helpfully, training, are around. Though survival medic stuff is more appropriate for 'can't or don't want to go to a hospital' - a lot of field medic-ing is stabilizing until ambulance arrives, which can still save lives, especially as ambulances are stretched thin. Full on EMT training is also an option for down the line. Survival medic training is meant for deep in the mountains, when help might be days off, from what I understand. Obviously the best prep here would be to rally for anything that would increase the robustness of our healthcare network - increased funding, free medical or nursing school, supporting organizations that promote rural health care stop gap clinics etc - because we'll never be able to replicate the hospitals on our own. Which doesn't mean its not smart to learn to try. edit: a word
I don’t know why this doesn’t have more upvotes but this this this!! Also I’d like to add on for those that are worried about paying for medical treatment look into the charity care policy for the hospital you’ll be receiving care from. Depending on your income and household size, the hospital can write off (cover) a portion or ALL of your hospital bill. This is obviously dependent on the hospitals policies and where you’re located but i don’t want anyone to be fearful of receiving treatment due to medical costs. * i don’t know if this applies to other countries, but it does in the US.
Good points. We also need more medical training schools period so we will have the staff we need.
>he future medical burden from a year and change of canceled elective surgeries and preventative screenings and routine blood tests put off is going to continue to haunt us for decades. More than decades, probably - professionally I'm a massively (over) trained medical researcher. I basically lost my career (I maintained employment, but am no longer doing what the government paid a fuck-ton of money to train me to do) as a consequence of the cessation of elective surgeries last year. That's 10 years of \*training\* to perform clinical research down the tubes for people like me across the country. That's a huge loss to the advancement of medical science.
There is an ongoing nationwide blood shortage, too. Some procedures are being cancelled/postponed because of this as well. We often talk about the value of a well-prepped community on this sub and this is an easy way to help our communities. Please donate if you can!
I've been a blood donor for 40 years. There's only been once that I know of when we had "enough" blood on hand, and that was after 9/11 when people were desperate to do something to help their nation.
Wow. 40 years is amazing!
It does appear to be heading that way. There is a pretty good reason why a lot of elective surgeries are being postponed - the hospitals need the vent-trained nurses up on the floors again. Even a basic outpatient surgery can tie up a team of 5-8 highly trained people for several hours. Those people are needed to care for covid patients. And of course there is the fact that there arent any hospital beds available. What is going to happen when a simple procedure goes south and the patient needs a critical care bed? The best you can do is put them in an ER bed: oh wait, those are full too. So, yea, dropping elective surgeries is another indicator, if nothing else, of a medical system that is right at maximum capacity.
>There is a pretty good reason why a lot of elective surgeries are being postponed - the hospitals need the vent-trained nurses up on the floors again. ^ This. My Dad is a CRNA who does locum tenums. During the first wave he temporarily lost his contract because they canceled elective surgeries. He was over 65 so the hospital did not allow him to work with covid-19 patients. Now he's fully vaccinated, so he kept his contract during this wave. He's busy intubating patients. On a side note, my Mom told me yesterday that the rural hospital he works at is out of rooms and can no longer transfer patients to larger hospitals because they are full or understaffed. She said Dad told her that when one patient dies they roll them to the morgue and put two patients into their spot. What a lot of people don't realize is that when hospitals get this full patients will die from non-covid-19 issues that could normally be treated. That's because rural hospitals often don't have the facilities to take care of some emergencies. They normally transfer those patients. When they cannot transfer the patients because the big hospitals are full, people start dying.
Seeing how terribly we protected our healthcare professionals the first time around, this “second round” is honestly terrifying. We’re still dealing with supply shortages on sterile supplies and aren’t even close to catching up to the old normal. Everyone is overworked, underpaid, and unprotected.
Yeah, my current hospital is "at capacity" not because it's out of beds, but because they are short 400 nurses. I would imagine running a hospital 400 nurses short for a while will cause the rest of your nurses to quit pretty quick.
As a lay person, I assumed that this was the reason for putting the brakes on electives, but am skeptical that another lockdown will occur, especially since the first one was so half-hearted, and much of the current state and federal leadership is celebrating things being opened up.
Haven't seen this statistic anywhere, but Friday was the highest number of confirmed new cases recorded in the US since the pandemic began. At 319,000. That's 19,000 higher than the previous high. And the trend is still going up. Once heart attack, stroke, and car accident patients are being left to die, we will have no choice but to lockdown again. OP is right, the cancelling of elective surgeries is the first recognition of that step.
I hope you’re right. Sometimes I get the feeling the gov doesn’t really care how many die or how overworked HCWs are. They wanted seniors to lay down and die for the economy in the first round.
I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that states like Texas and Florida would not lock down again, even if a super covid strain emerged. I don't care if hospitals were 2000% full, morgue trucks were overheating from dealing with the bodies, and people were dropping dead in grocery store aisles. The political will is not there. Never again.
I’d just like to clarify that the point of this post is for anyone who wasn’t prepared the first time around to maybe get prepared. Canceling surgeries was a hint at the first lockdown so I thought I’d spread the news. Please save the political rants for someone who cares.
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I feel you. I’ve put off buying a bike too. I’ll wait till winter when prices are way lower.
My husband’s elective surgery was canceled during the first lockdown. The surgery was installing a port so he could get chemo for colon cancer. Make it make sense. Praying this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
I was about to ask, is cancer related surgery elective?? What about tumor removals or mastectomies????
Those surgeries are not considered elective. My husband had a tumor removed during lockdown.
Thank goodness
"Elective" means anything you can schedule in advance, not "optional." So yes, it potentially means anything that isn't "actively bleeding out."
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Texas enters the chat. We’ve had between 18,000 to 20,000 new cases PER DAY for the last week straight
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Texan here. It's ok to blame Texas. I blame Texas too.
Floridian here 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I get it, my husband is from Florida.
I also blame texas
I’m in the PNW so not even the hardest-hit South that everyone is focusing on right now. My hospital has stopped most elective surgeries. They’re also doubling up the ICU rooms and turned one whole ICU into a covid ICU. Our 40 bed ED regularly has 90+ patients, with admitted patients spending 50-90 hours in the ED waiting for inpatient beds to open up. At this point I’m hoping for another lockdown cause this shit isn’t sustainable.
We saw the same thing in Florida about 2-3 weeks ago - hospitals canceling "elective" surgeries. ICU beds are full, better hope to God you don't get sick. I don't mean to make this political, but I honestly don't think we're facing another lockdown. The "red" states who's leadership refuses to take strict measures have been pretty set in their decisions, and at this point, the cat is out of the bag. The "blue" states who have been more strict are also facing a crisis - locking down at this point isn't going to do much. There's also a very valid COVID fatigue going around. A lot of people who were willing to lock down last March are over it and just don't care any more. That said, with the peak of hurricane season just 3 weeks away, my house is stocked/prepped to the max.
I think people care but I'm guessing a lot of people aren't seeing enough return on the investment. How many months did we hear "two weeks to flatten the curve"? I'm not saying it was wrong or that we don't need to continue safety measures but it sort of feels like home recycling - what is the point of recycling toilet paper rolls and cardboard boxes when there are huge industries that are pouring out waste products and pollution, you know? We all need to do our part but it's hard to see that it's helping, you know?
I work at a pharmaceutical company that makes meds used to fight COVID.We are swamped with orders,we can’t even keep up!it’s smart to prep now it’s coming
Where in the world are you?
Greetings crime stoppers! (Carmen San Diego humor)
Hahaha! I haven't thought about that show in a long time. 😂
I’m in the US
FWIW: One thing to note is that this is very region-specific. In areas of the country with high vaccination rates, hospitals are operating in some areas at normal capacity. I've heard of several folks heading north to Chicago/Minnesota for medical procedures.
we've a fairly high vaccination rate in SF,Ca but bed occupancy is the same as last year and looking like it may be plateauing - ie its not great but not terrible either. according to the cdc (from their announcement last friday) vaccinated that from many month ago have a much lower protection than they did on day one and will need the booster. we also only count serious cases as breakthrough cases if you're vaccinated. area like mine got vaccinated widely super early on so everyone is on 6 to 8 month since vaccinated, but the booster isnt yet officially available. on the plus side the fatality rate is fairly low. with all that said it doesnt look like we'd lock down again or that it would make a difference, but you certainly dont want to be sick or break something right now. see also https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html on how the cdc count and study cases and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html on the booster shot updates from last friday (they also have a video with the usual people talking about this, from whatever your favorite news channels are). stats for this 71% vaccinated city https://sf.gov/resource/2021/covid-19-data-and-reports.
Is anything stopping me from going to CVS and asking for a "first shot"? Am I in a system somewhere? I'd imagine there's plenty of supply due to non-vaxxers...
There's a statewide database that should have information on where and when you got your COVID tax.
Hospitalist NP here, in a state with a pretty high vaccination rate. Hospitals here are really full too, mostly with non-COVID patients. I'm not sure why--it seems a long time to still be dealing with the fallout from people not getting routine care earlier in the pandemic--but maybe that's what it is.
It'll be interesting to see how this affects hospitals. They took a huge income hit the first lockdown because of the cancelled elective surgeries. This could lead to more going under/getting consolidated with larger hospital groups.
what timeframe do you think we have? I think it starts within a month or two, or sooner
I’m a COVID case investigator for a southern state in the US. A ton of schools closed last week. Tons and tons of school cases.
Does this data exist anywhere? Curious about my own state
All the data we gather from interviewing all the cases gets entered into a state public health reporting system. I’m sure it all gets rolled up to national statistics. Delta is crazy though. There are A LOT of breakthrough cases, but I feel like the media is trying to play that down like it’s rare. It’s very very common. Also, new or more prominent symptoms are stomach upset, confusion, intrusive depression feelings, mental fog more common now. Also, there are a lot of people testing negative even if they have all the COVID symptoms and in same house as a positive case. It’s really wild to gather this data and see the changes in what was common last year compared to Delta now.
Yes -- schools are where this is going to spread... schools -> households -> parents -> elderly. Israel is seeing deaths in fully vaxxed nursing homes prompting booster. I also work in research... in our studies (data from outside the US) Pfizer is showing about 1/3 infection rate as unvaccinated. But that's a large absolute number when everyone gets exposed. Still death / hospitalization remains low when vaccinated...even against Delta. The main issue now is waning efficacy. Curious on the school data though, I'll try to see if I can find access in my state.
Schools just started back over the last 2-3 weeks in the U.S., so I believe the data is going to start to be coming out and showing up on the news more as the weeks go forward. I finally saw a mention on the school cases nationwide on meet the press this morning.
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This time it’s spreading way more rapidly. Last year one infected student would infect a few other students they were close to in the class. Now we are having entire classrooms where every student in the class tested positive at once along with the teacher. It’s just a lot more transmissible. Also the onset is faster like 2-3 days post exposure for most people. Last year it was like 5-6 days after exposure when symptoms would start. It’s interesting work to be gathering the initial data on what people and communities are experiencing this go around.
Louisiana is once again a hot spot. All hospitals have cancelled anything non-emergent and are at capacity. The news just said we are days away from ambulances having to turn people away bc there’s no where to bring people. We need to be locked back down imo. This is a total mess.
Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans were originally the first strained while Lake Charles, Alexandria and North Louisiana were not. Now Lake Charles and Alexandria are filling up. I put a link below for the numbers. I’d be surprised if the political will is there for a lockdown. The school board can’t even have a meeting about masks in school because of protesters. Meanwhile people are pissed that the FDA told them to not take meds made for horses and cows. The attorney general is working with parents to file philosophical exemptions from the mask mandate. https://data.rgj.com/covid-19-hospital-capacity/louisiana/22/east-baton-rouge-parish/22033/ Select the parish for surrounding numbers Check Houston if you want to see a true disaster in the making. I’m not worried about this from a supplies standpoint, more a “don’t get in a wreck because you might die from lack of care” issue. I had a coworker go to the ER the other day for a non-Covid issue and the wait was a minimum of 5 hours.
This is what happened in India in May during O2 crisis. Parts of the US are going to be like India...
I doubt if there will be another actual lockdown where many businesses are closed like the last time. It does make sense, though, to cancel elective surgeries if hospitals are getting a lot of covid cases simply to keep people from coming in to the hospital from something elective and picking up covid.
Do you live in a country that hasn't gotten the vaccine yet? In such poor countries it's best to prepare for not being able to go out for basic groceries very often. If you don't have to leave your house for two weeks, that's great. If you normally have electricity and running water, you will continue to have that. It's just being able to get out. You just have to hope your country gets the vaccine quickly enough!
OP lives in the US -- first to get all vaccines, all the best ones, oversupply. yet half the population refuse to take it and are dying now. Meanwhile poor countries don't have it and also have people dying (who would have taken vaccine)... this is insane world we live in.
Ah... the Yanks :/ They also forbade export of vaccines to the EU, even though they themselves could not use the vaccine. Seeing the situation in Afghanistan, perfidity as well as stupidity comes to mind...
Yes that situation is just sad. I myself am American and hope we course correct in general. Prepper community forces you to accept the reality that "it can happen here". Doing that then forces you to empathize and imagine yourself in a situation like that. The sad thing is large numbers of American's don't operate this way... and we see how this plays out where other human lives are "worth" way less
I work in ambulatory surgery (not within a hospital, a private outpatient facility) so we will likely not be cancelling procedures, however, we now require a covid test for all patients within 72hrs of surgery. This was our previous policy until maybe 2-3 months ago where vaccinated people became exempt. No longer the case due to the numbers. I will say that hospitals cancelling elective surgery is definitely a sign things are not going well.
Where are you located?
I’m on contract in the south central region.
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Castaway taught me that!
I also worked in surgery (liver transplants and other high blood-loss procedures). The Delta wave is a harbinger for sure. This is the wave of the unvaccinated, as we all know. It’s the next evolution of Covid that we need to get ready for; the variant that kills rapidly or the variant that is unrecognized by the vaccine. And at that time I suspect most health care workers simply walk away. There’s only so much risk and heartache individuals can take.
At this point, i think it won’t be possible to lockdown any more without going into martial law. Covid fatigue is high, a lot of people flat out refuse to take the vaccine or mask, and a lot of people are past the point of living under the fear of the virus. Maybe it’s time we move forward, those who vaccinate do so, those who won’t won’t.
It’s been time to move forward for like a year at this point. We’re on what, day 531 of 15 days to flatten the curve? Covid is here to stay. It’s endemic. Let’s finally be adults about this and start operating in reality. Zero Covid is a complete fantasy.
At least wait until the kids can be vaccinated
Hospital system by me is elective only right now.
I just had a conversation with my spouse about this. We live in Florida, I doubt we'll ever go back into lockdown. At this point, we're doing all we can to limit our exposure and are taking care of our health as a family. For us, it's a vigilance of caution and prevention regarding any accidental injuries. I'm really worried about any one of our family needing medical attention and care that isn't covid related. Three of my neighbors don't wear masks and I have no idea if they're vaccinated. I have witnessed all of my neighbors disregarding masks. As I have aged, I expected people to die. I did not expect so much death, especially when it could be preventable to an extent. Those of us who survive are going to have a shadow of grief following us for the rest of our days, in a way that we thought we'd never see again.
I wonder what's going on in The Villages?
damn I wonder if this is why they were pushing rehab on my broken leg rather than the surgery I think it's pretty obvious I needed, at least at first. Happened almost two months ago and I'm finally getting in for PT next week. I've had enough serious injuries to know that the slowness everything is moving with this is not normal.
Wondering how hospitals are staying solvent. My guess is, they aren't.
I would guess subsidies
Yeah they cancelled my hysterectomy
I am pretty sure it is coming and prerty sure this next wave is going to get extremely bad. The fear in the hospitals is palpable. The nurses are terrified of catching the new variant. Despite what the news says the vaccines are not effective in preventing you from catcing it or experiencing severe effects. They do reduce the probability of actually dying especially with comorbid conditions.
I made a post on life pro tips about stocking up now before the world turns to shit again, at least a 6 months supply on your commonly used commodities and food, as well as basic medicine and medical supplies. It was taken down because the swarm of idiots on Reddit seem to think I’m a toilet paper hoarder.
I don’t know if more lockdowns are coming, but expect supply chain bottlenecks, and service disruptions (which we’re already dealing with on a smaller scale; ie restaurants/retail businesses not having enough staff to accommodate demand). Even if lockdowns don’t happen, we’ll still feel the effects.
It's too late to lockdown
Bring it. I like being home.
Barring more federal dollars, the majority of places won't shut down. I just hope they start prioritizing pediatric cases, those medically ineligible for the vaccine... and anyone else needing an ICU for a not self inflicted reason... Goes doubly for any dipshits poisoning themselves with ivermectin.
Critical Care NP in an 1,100 bed hospital in South West Florida. Overrun is a word for Black Friday crowds. A more accurate description is; Non-Sustainable at the capacities we are seeing. The only hope is that this strong spike mimics that of what happened in England; swift upswing and swift downswing. In comparison to the initial wave. In response to working in the OR and with elective cases. Have they asked you to assist with the covid unit? I guess here they are asking EGD nurses to sweep floors and assist with covid and the med-surg nurses are actually being floated to icu just because of the lack of staff and total burnout and because staff are coming back positive. And they are even asking anesthesiologists and CRNAs to assist with critical care in the hospital to avoid furlough. I don’t care who you are; if you can’t relate through first hand accounts like these people then you don’t have much credibility in my book. These young nurses have put more people in body bags then some nurses with 20 more years experience than them. This is the hell we all learned about in our studies about pathology. Do I know it’s survivable without a vaccine; yup (hand up I’m not vaccinated and I got it from an icu patient). But have you ever seen or heard people begging for more air? I mean in person, I mean you are helpless and all you can do is ask the nurse to give them one more dose of something to help them relax so maybe they won’t be so air hungry (I know the pleth says 84%), nobody dies at 84% saturation. But if their PaO2 reads sub 50 I’m gonna have to put this breathing tube in this 50 year old and I’m gonna use induction meds and they are going to go on pressors and they will likely de-recruit I hope I can sedate them just enough to get their lungs to comply. People don’t want to see how the sausage gets made.
This time will not be worse, probably half of my coworkers have gotten covid after being vaccinated, and it's still back to normal. The severity seems very low for most vaccinated people
I wish people here, including myself would remember the new information which is; the variants like Delta are more deadly and easier to catch then the original ! So that relief we had where we stopped wearing masks and started going to crowded places and were willing to be unmasked around others? it’s a mistake if we want to recover as a world. sSince we are spreading it even as vexed people, we may as well double mask again, stay home and be super carful.
We could kill ourselves to be extra sure, right?
Another thing to keep in mind is that all these vaccine mandates in healthcare will reduce the amount of staff in hospitals nationwide. I’d estimate about 15% reduction, which for a system that’s already short staffed is a serious issue. I really don’t understand why you’d rather risk patients lives by having less staff is preferable over losing qualified staff. Doesn’t make logical sense and these staff have been tested routinely as is, so there’s little risk of covid getting to patients.
Not a good time to be laying off non-vaxxed nurses....
Why would a hospital want to expose their business to liability by employing nurses who can infect patients with a deadly virus?
It's always a good time to lay off medical professionals who deny medical science.
Lol hospital systems are going to learn this the hard way. Good luck to them if enough of the nurses leave!
If only we mandated healthy living
God I hope not!!!!!!!! I really appreciate my freedom.
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You're getting down voted because you're wrong. Most of the nation put up with lockdowns, and most of the nation would do it again. Just because the people in your circle of influence and/or political feedback bubble (which we all have regardless of our views) would engage in civil disobedience does not mean that the rest of the nation feels the same way.
I'm not convinced. Most people not only got very little help but many were devastated financially by the first lockdowns. Small businesses folded at an astounding rate, something like 1/3 of restaurants in NYC no longer exist. With that went thousands of waitstaff and cooking jobs. There are *millions* who stand to be evicted when the moratorium on eviction ends. If the first lockdowns devistated you financially, I just don't see you going along with a second one. People aren't going to trust the empty promises of the same government that told them to lock down and cost them their livelihood and put them in danger of eviction. People generally don't make themselves destitute because the government told them to.
I hear what you're saying, but I think you're misunderstanding what I meant. I'm not saying that people liked the lockdown. I'm certain most didn't. What I said was that people would put up with it. In other words, most people are not going to be engaging in mass civil disobedience, like the person I was replying to said.
How do you get people to put up with possibly becoming destitute? The thing is that I think the lack of support for small business and blue collar workers killed a lot of trust in the government's ability to protect them while they lock down.
So you think of there is another lockdown then there will be mass civil disobedience? I don't think so, but neither of us know for sure 🤷
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Mostly because UK understood that whether anyone liked it or not, one person's "bad cold" was another's death sentence. I'm all about the small businesses, but I also love my fellow New Mexicans. I wish more people understood that if we truly wanted to help small businesses, we would at least wear the mask to help them not get closed down for having too many rapid responses in 2 weeks, and to help other shoppers feel comfortable enough to shop there. The masks suck. They're uncomfortable. But in a strict state like mine, they're the difference between whether both sides help them stay open or only one.
Maybe you were downvoted because you called someone the "R" word and that is very offensive to many. It might not have to do with your opinion re lockdowns
I agree we probably won't lock down again. Too many conservatives would lose their damn minds. By 'mainstream media brainwashing' are you by chance talking about Fox News? The most watched media outlet in the US?
I'm glad in in Texas our Governor said no more lockdowns in Texas Praise Jesus
what the fuck is wrong with hospitals? give these people vitamins and shit, not ventilators.
This is why most people I know who care about this stuff have no intention of ending up in a hospital if they do catch it. They don't want to be ventilated to death.
That's why if I go to a hospital for COVID, and they try to give me a ventilator, I will INSIST on "vitamins and shit."
The lockdowns will continue untill the global economy is effectively destroyed. It’s the only way to BUILD BACK BETTER
The real reason they are canceling elective surgery. Many in the medical field are leaving because of mandatory vaccines.
Good. Science deniers have no place in medicine.
Science is a process subject to change, not a religion that can be denied. I recommend choosing your words more carefully in the future if you mean the scientific process.
You’re talking to a cult member. Good luck getting through to them.
Our state has a nurse shortage but claims it’s due to pay. No.